I’m well known for being able to sniff out bargains, for not paying full price for anything, for always getting a better deal on something than the next person. People have fallen over when they found out what I paid for my Lexus, my first house, my vacations, my wedding band (that’s a great story in itself, cuz that diamond-covered band came out to be better than free — as in, the jewelry store gave me money after they handed me the band). The list goes on and on. Today, that bit me on the butt. Just a little. *rubbing insulted tooshie*

My employer is a member of a discount program, and if we sign onto this program, we get deals on amusement parks, prescription pills not covered by insurance, jewelry, shoes, restaurants, all sorts of stuff. I was exploring the restaurant option online when I saw that I could purchase a gift certificate to a local Japanese restaurant we’d eaten at a few times for a great price: $100 gift certificate for $28. I’ve known restaurants and events to do this, sort of like seat-fillers (which is how I’d gotten deep discounts to shows and plays before, too), so I looked it over for “catches,” didn’t see any, and plunked down my credit card for a $28 transaction. I figured if there were some horrendous service charge or convenience charge at checkout, I’d simply abort the purchase. There wasn’t and my transaction went through. I clicked the option to print my $100 certificate right away, the site redirected me to the printable version, and that’s when I saw it, filling up my screen. My mouth formed a giant “O,” and not in a good way.

$100
GIFT CERTIFICATE
…Special Instructions: Minimum purchase of $200. 18% Gratuity added prior to discount. Valid for Dine In ONLY. Excludes: Other Offers/Promotions. Excludes happy hour. 1 certificate per table. Valid with parties of 2 or more.

HOLD the phone. I have to have a party of 2 or more before I can redeem this gift certificate? So I can’t go in this restaurant alone? No wait, that’s not a problem. The problem is, WHO THE HELL IS GONNA SPEND $200+ AT A LITTLE CASUAL JAPANESE RESTAURANT?! How much sushi am I gonna eat?! Why wasn’t this disclosed before I purchased the darn thing? Or maybe I should’ve read all the tiny print that wasn’t on the screen (cuz I would’ve had to click “Read Terms and Conditions for Use of this Site” and be redirected to another screen) before I clicked the only thing that was on the screen, which was a little box next to “I agree to the terms and conditions for the use of this site.”

Mr. W had warned me that a deal like this sounded too good to be true, and to make sure I don’t get slapped for all kinds of surcharges at the end of my order process; little did he expect that the trickery comes AFTER that. And if you’re thinking that I can just use this certificate little by little over time, well, they thought of that, too. “Restaurant-Specific Gift Certificates are redeemable in their entirety only and may not be redeemed incrementally.”

Sometimes bargain-shopping is inversely effective. The bigger the bargain, the more I pay. BUT, as I tried to argue with Mr. W when I had to tell him I was tricked, it still is a $200 dinner for $128. That’s still 36% off. =P Anyone want to join me for a group dinner at a sushi and teppan restaurant at our neck of the woods?